DDSCB23: Alone

[Wayne23]

1/25: 92-64 over #3 Syracuse here. 45-20 at the half. 17, 13 for sub C/F Key Eddy. 15 each for Wace and Morr. +20 RBs, +17 for the bench.

Several of our four year olds already know how to read. Finding reading material that is relevant is not easy. The basic kids’ books work but as their abilities and tastes become more sophisticated I’m not sure what there will be for them to read. Every book ever written was written on Earth and about Erath, with Earth based situations and references. Maybe I’ll need to activate some robots who are capable of writing fiction that will take place on Mars and on our ship. Having said that I’m contemplating what they need to know about Earth history. Books on that topic may be important.

1/27: 103-70 over Louisville here. 70 points in the 1st half, an all time high. 33, 4, 7, 3 for Wace, 10, 12 for Thun. Great inside play.

1/29: All of our recruits hit our SAT score.

Bri Thun is #14 on the Norton list.

1/30: 75-65 at Boston College. It was never a game and the final was as close as they got in the last 30 minutes. 26, 16 for Wace, 16, 11, 3 blocks for Latt. +13 RBs.

2/3: 97-69 over #6 Florida ST here. We led all the way. 33, 15 for Thun, 20, 7, 3 for Wace, 17, 3 steals for Eddy. We owned the inside.

23-0, 12-0, 1 game up on #4 Ga. Tech, 3 or more on the rest. We play Ga. Tech there in a couple of weeks in what could be a very big game.

[Wayne23]

2/8: 98-65 at Wake Forest. 60-31 at halftime. 21, 9, 3 blocks for Latt, 23, 8 for Thun, 17, 5, 3 for Wace. 66 in the paint.

2/10: 101-52 over Miami here. 58-23 at the half. 22, 10, 5, 4 for Wace, 14, 6 for Thun. We controlled the inside.

2/12: Bri Thun is #15 on the Norton list.

2/13: 101-62 at North Carolina. Never a game. 36, 8 for Wace, 26, 7, 4, 4 for Eddy.

2/17: 82-79 at #6 Ga. Tech. 17 lead changes, 7 ties, close all the way. Wace and Thun took over offensively late in the game but Ga. Tech had the last possession with 4.4 left. They set up a three behind a screen but it missed long.

23, 21, 4 blocks for Thun, 21, 9, 1, 3 for Wace, 13, 8, 3 blocks for Lat.. Huge edge inside, +40 RBs, +28 on 2nd chances.

27-0, 16-0, 3 game lead with 4 to play. #1, NET #1.

A monster cyclone damages the main building. A huge rock was picked up by the cyclone and it smashed into the building. It didn’t break through but it severely damages the wall. As soon as the winds calmed down robots fixed the damage and reinforced the entired wall of both buildings on the side where the prevailing winds hit.

[Wayne23]

2/22: 79-48 over Virginia here. Not close. 27, 10, 1, 3 for Thun, 11, 6, 6, 4 blocks for Wace.

2/24: 106-78 at Clemson. They hung with us for about 25 minutes. 17, 12, 4, 4 for Beko, 18, 10, 3 blocks for Latt. We owned the lane.

2/27: 116-58 over Wake Forest. Up 41 at the break. 26, 3, 5 for Wace, 16, 9 for Thun, 18, 6 for Eddy, 14, 6 for Beko. +34 RBs, 68 in the paint.

3/3: A real battle to end the regular season, 98-94 at #12 Florida ST. 49-46 at halftime and in stayed close. Wace hit 3 threes and 2 free throws in the final minute. He had 38 and 4.

12, 11 for Latt, 12, 8 for Eddy, 12, 7 for Thun.

We end regular season play at 31-0, 20-0, 3 up on #10 Pitt, 6 or more on the rest.

+29 PPG, #1 in scoring and scoring margin, assists, RBs and RB margin, and blocks. #1 overall NET Rating. +20.5 RBs, +7 assists, -5.5 TOs, an excellent 9.8 per game.

Wace averages 23.3, 6.6, 4.2. 17.3, 8.3 for Thun, 12.4, 6.3 for Latt, 10.2 5.5 for Eddy. 8 assists, only 2.2 TOs for Morr.

[Wayne23]

3/5: 2 big losses to the NBA draft, Shep Wace, and Key Eddy. Ouch!

3/9: #9 seed Louisville, 17-15, 8-12, in the quarter finals. We won by 33 at home.

3/10: 103-59. Never a game. Up 23 at halftime. 18, 7, 7 for Wace, 22, 5 for Latt. +39 RBs.

Wace says he wants to leave with a national title.

#5 seed, #12 ranked Florida ST, 24-9, 13-7, in the semifinals. We won by 28 at home but by only 4 at their place last week so we need to play well.

3/11: 108-84. Our focus was excellent. 61-32 at the half. 18, 18, 3 blocks for Beko, 23, 13 for Thun, 21, 5, 10 for Morr, 16, 3, 6 for Wace. Big edge inside.

Tod Morr sprained his wrist. He’ll play but with limited time.

#10 ranked, #3 seed Georgia Tech, 24-8, 14-6, for the title. We won by only 3 there. Our bench and our inside play pulled us through.

3/12: 88-64. We were determined! Up by only 1 at the half and it looked like it was going to be another battle to the wire, but we opened the 2nd with a 19-4 run and that was that.

16, 7, 4 for Thun, 21, 4 for Latt, 8, 5, 10, 5 for Wace, 16, 7 for Eddy.

[Wayne23]

#1 East, #1 overall. We play #16 seed Milwaukee, 16-17.

3/16: 87-63. Up 19 at the break. 21, 4, 8 for Wace, 14, 10 for Latt, 18, 6 for Thun, 12, 8 for Beko.

#9 seed, 21-12 Gonzaga in the 2nd round. We beat them by 52 in December.

3/18: 102-88. Our D was awful. 62-42 at halftime. We were in big foul trouble in the 2nd and they got close, but they never caught us. 24, 5 for Latt, 14 each for Thun and Wace,
11, 8 for Beko. We won it inside.

#4 seed, #17 ranked Iowa ST, 28-7, in the Sweet Sixteen. I don’t think they can stay with our inside game.

3/23: 88-62. 36-24 after a sluggish 1st half. We were in control but we seemed slow. We lit it up in the 2nd. 16, 15 for Beko, 15, 6, 3 for Wace, 14, 10 for Latt, 15, 10, 2, 3 for Eddy. +27 RBs.

#6 ranked, #23 seed Michigan, 27-9, in the Elite Eight. Their strength is outside.

3/25: 88-66. 49-37 at the half and that’s as close as they got. 27, 9, 6, 3 for Wace, 22, 11 for Thun. 51 RBs, +19 on 2nd chances.

[Wayne23]

It’s #6 ranked, #2 seed Cincinnati, 31-8, in the national semifinal. They’re one of the best inside teams in the country but we think we’re better inside. We’re definitely better outside. But we need to be sharp.

It’s Pitt vs. Florida ST in the other game, so 3 of the Final Four are from the ACC.

4/1: 104-65 in a real blowout. 56-37 at halftime. 22, 4, 4 for Wace, 17, 6, 8 for Morr, 16, 12 for Beko, 16, 8 for Eddy, 12, 10 for Gray. We won this outside and with great bench play, +21 for the bench.

#10 ranked, #3 seed Florida ST, for a threepeat and for back to back undefeated seasons. We beat them by 28, by 4 there, and then by 24 in the ACC semifinal. They can score so we’ll need to play good D.

4/3: 79-68. They defended us well but we defended them better. 39-23 at the half and we led by as many as 22. They got it to 8 twice late in the 2nd but no closer.

25, 5, 4, 4 for MOP Shep Wace. 14, 4, 5, 4 for Morr, 11, 8, 3 blocks for Latt. We won this one with terrific guard play.

[Wayne23]

4/4: Awards: Wace was Final Four MOP. I was national COY again.

In the ACC, Shep Wace made 1st team, Bri Thun 2nd. For the first time in my career I was NOT conference COY. No big deal.

89 game win streak.

4/9: We’re losing a LOT of talent, Bri Thun, Shep Wace, Tod Morr, Gegi Beko, and Key Eddy. With the recruiting restrictions it will be a real challenge to repeat.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade.

No.

40-0, national title, back to back undefeated seasons, a threepeat, 89 game win streak. For my 12 year career I’m 405-50, .890, highest winning pct. ever.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #2 preseason. #8 recruiting class.

5/29: We lose Rod Latt, who started right from his freshman year. That hurts.

We have 2 spots open. We’ll go for 1 and 1.

6/2: We offer to a PF.

6/5: We get the PF.

We’re through.

6/25: We’ll go to Indy and to all of the regional camps.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We want 2 guards.

Shep Wace was picked 1st in the draft.

7/11: Recruiting is going well.

7/31: We offer to 2 PGs and a C.

8/7: SF Troy Gray is #16 on the Norton list. PG Wes Ando is #29.

9/11: We get 2, lose 1. We get a PG, #12, and a C, #30. These were the two who were highest on our list. Looking to get another guard.

Kids are back in school, going to full day pre-school, 5 days a week. It’s a fast paced pre-school for those who can handle it. For others it’s not as fast. There are weekly meetings to assure that every
kid is properly placed.

9/18: We get the PG, #51.

Going to the Coaches Classic. Very challenging schedule.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We look good, but not as good as the last few seasons.

11/12: The season starts tomorrow at the Coaches Classic. We’re the #1 seed. We play #16 seed Lafayette.

Here’s the lineup:

Senior Wes Ando is at PG. He’s been a sub for 3 years but he’s ready for this.

Soph Josh Grow is at SG. Good defender, very good ball handler, good shooter.

#3 guard is frosh Kea Toms, who still needs to learn how to play solid D but he has the rest of the game. After him we’re in trouble so we hope to avoid injuries in the backcourt. Frosh Nate Joon isn’t close to ready and neither is frosh Mano Rami.

Junior Troy Gray is at SF. He’s a terrific rebounder and a scorer. His D could be better.

Frosh Matt Baly is at PF. He looks really good and he can light it up on O.

Junior Jed Mile, a transfer from Iowa where he started the last 2 seasons, is at C. He does everything well.

1st big man off the bench is senior Adam Lake, who will get about equal time with Troy Gray. He could wind up starting. Junior Cory Feld is very good. We’ll need to find him minutes somehow.

We enter the season on an 89 game win streak.

[Wayne23]

11/13: 91-61. 18, 8 for C Jed Mile, 13, 12 for PF Matt Baly, 17, 5 for sub Cory Feld. +42 in the paint.

We lost the 6 guys who played the most minutes last year. The only guy who played much who is still here is Ando.

#9 seed Washington in the quarter finals. They look good outside.

Lots of upsets in round one.

11/15: 95-88. We led for the last 32 minutes, by as much as 21. 19, 6, 2, 3 for SF Troy Gray, 17 each for Baly and Ando. +12 for the bench, +16 in the lane.

#5 seed Houston, 2-0, in the semifinals. On paper we’re a lot better.

11/17: 79-68. 45-24 at the half. We lost our focus a little in the 2nd but the final score was as close as they got. 24, 12 for Matt Baly, 14, 7 for Lake, 12, 5 for Feld. +18 for the bench.

#11 seed Charleston, 3-0, upset #6, #3, and #2 to get here. Impressive! They have a very good C and they can shoot outside.

11/19: 90-82 and the title. 26 lead changes, 9 ties, close until very late. We got some key rebounds and made some big shots in the last few minutes.

21, 12 for Mile, 11, 10, 3 for Baly, 14, 4, 6, 3 for Ando, 19, 5 for Lake.

Post game press conference (excerpts): “Grace Neal, WHUS. Coach, you looked good in the Coaches Classic but you weren’t as dominant as in the last two seasons.”

"That’s true. This is a different team. The NCAA has put in some recruiting restrictions against team that do very well, to level the playing field, and that has affected us. We’re good though, and we’ll be in the fight all season.”

“96 wins in a row. Is the goal 100?”

“The goal is always to try our best to win the next one.”

[Wayne23]

11/22: 74-57 at #18 Oregon. Down 9 at halftime and we trailed by 12 earlier. Then we dominated the 2nd half. 21, 9 for Baly. +12 for the bench. +20 in the paint.

11/25: 91-75 over #13 Kona here. We led all the way, by as many as 22. 26, 8 for Baly, who has been our scorer, 21,8 for Mile. +11 for the bench. Bu=ig edge inside.

11/29: 96-69 over Purdue in Storrs. We led all the way again. 24, 7, 1, 3 for Gray, 22, 14 for Baly. +11 for the bench. +15 RBs, +28 in the lane.

12/2: 96-77 at Xavier. 60-37 at the break. 21, 17 for Gray, who is hot right now. 18, 12 for Baly, 17, 10, 3 blocks for Mile. +24 RBs, 60 in the paint.

100 wins in a row.

The cyclones seem to be happening more frequently. It doesn’t seem to be seasonal and we haven’t figured out the cause.

8-0, #1, NET #5.